Early Life

Charles is originally from New Rochelle, NY and attended Iona College in Upstate New York, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice.  He received a Master of Science degree in National Security Strategy from the distinguished National War College, an elite school within the National Defense University founded to educate future leaders in the Armed Services, Department of State, and other civilian government agencies for high-level policy, command, and staff responsibilities.  A standout student in this rigorous academic environment of 220 senior-level military and civilian agency representatives, Charles was awarded Best National Security Thesis by the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, with a focus on the national security threat posed by the Mexican Cartels.

United States Secret Service (USSS)

Charles began his career with USSS in New York City assigned to the New York Field Office where he conducted protection of world leaders and complex criminal investigations. He was then assigned to the Presidential & Vice-Presidential Protective Divisions as Assistant to the Special Agent in Charge, where he continued to grow his situational, organizational, and conceptual knowledge of high-value security operations while providing personal protection for Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, then-Vice President Joe Biden, and their families.  During his time in the Protective Divisions, Charles developed key leadership skills – managing change, employing financial discipline, training agents, and, in the Vice-Presidential Protective Division, managing all family protective programs and leading a large group of Operational Special Agents.

As the Senior Law Enforcement Advisor to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from 2009-2011, he maintained broad subject matter expertise on federal, state, and local law enforcement investigations, and he was responsible for implementing key public-facing DHS programs including the National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) and the “If You See Something, Say Something” national campaign.

In 2015, Charles assumed the role of Acting Special Agent in Charge of the San Francisco field office, with authority over USSS operations throughout the Bay Area, including the Sacramento, San Jose, and Fresno offices.  As cybercrime and cyber warfare operations became more prevalent around the world, he led a 1,300+ member Electronic Crimes Task Force formed to investigate complex financial and cybercrimes.  He built and managed coalitions of key law enforcement and private sector partners, managed criminal investigations and the development of threat mitigation processes, and led investigations that resulted in the prosecution of global cybercrime organizations.  

As the Acting Special Agent in Charge, he also oversaw the creation and implementation of complex security plans for numerous high-level protective visits to the Bay Area, including providing support to visiting Protective Details.

Corporate Security Leadership

From 2015 to 2017 Charles served as Senior Director, Protective Services, for Oracle Corporation, a $40 billion, publicly traded technology company.  The company’s reach – employing 143,000 professionals at 7 facilities around the world and providing critical technology infrastructure to global clients – required Charles to employ his deep understanding of global security risks, both cyber and real-world, and to manage numerous, often concurrent protection operations around the world.

After analyzing the company’s existing processes for identifying, assessing, and responding to potential threats, Charles established a new, global protective program for the company.  In a fast-paced, leader-driven environment, implementing the global protective program required maintaining relationships of trust and mutual respect with senior executives across all lines of business, while also ensuring that his Executive Protection and Security teams performed above expectations.  When implemented, the protective program led to significant improvements in Oracle’s security posture worldwide, including detailed optimization of threat notification, information gathering, social network monitoring, keyword searches, weekly reporting, and resource allocation.

In 2018, Charles stepped in as the first Vice President of Security for the Golden State Warriors, a professional team in the National Basketball Association. He was responsible for overseeing all security design and emergency operations planning during construction of the Warriors new $1.8 Billion Chase Center arena in San Francisco. Charles also was relied on to leverage his expertise and relationships with the key public safety agencies within the city and neighborhood associations to ensure a holistic and collaborative approach to preparing for large events. As a professional sports franchise, the Golden State Warriors require constant, high-level security for the team’s players, all of whom are critical to the organization’s success; and for the Chase Center, where the team plays, to ensure a safe experience for players, employees, and the public.  Managing a team of highly regarded security professionals; collaborating with local, state, and federal public safety agencies; and implementing groundbreaking, state-of-the-art technology, Charles drove the creation and implementation of best-in-class security processes, policies, and standards.  

Sentinel Security Solutions

Founded in 2017 based on high demand for Charles’ expertise and to serve multiple clients across a broad spectrum of industries, Sentinel Security now has offices in Camden, SC; San Francisco, CA; New York, NY, Austin, TX, and London, UK.  Sentinel Security Solutions is an industry-leading, expertise-driven global security consulting firm providing critical advice to high-net-worth individuals, Fortune 500 companies, academic institutions, large event and sports venues, and government clients.  Facing cyber, physical, and infrastructure threats at a global level, these clients rely on Sentinel Security to maintain expert knowledge of global politics, criminal methodologies, and emerging security technologies around the world.

As Chief Executive Officer, Charles leads a team of industry experts to deliver successful investigations, protective intelligence, executive protection, event security, active shooter mitigation, asset protection, crisis management, crisis communications, and security technologies.  In addition, he continues to use his experience of DHS policies and programs to aid both startups and established companies developing robust security plans and technologies to achieve DHS Safety Act certification.

Charles is active in many organizations and serves on several advisory boards, including The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund and the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, where he strives to support the development of improved practices and procedures to combat dynamic, multidimensional threats around the world.

Media Presence

In addition to his roles as an executive and thought leader within the security industry, Charles’ national security experience and expertise is in high demand, sharing his thoughtful, security-based perspective with mass media audiences on television and in print.

As a regular national security and law enforcement analyst for leading television news programs, including FOX News and NEWSMAX, Charles is frequently called upon to comment on world events from his perspective as a security expert.  To these appearances, he brings both a comprehensive understanding of the current state of geopolitics and the breadth and depth of his knowledge of national security, law enforcement operations, security practices and technologies, consistently delivering a balanced and practical assessment of critical, and often dynamic current events.

As an Opinion Contributor to The Hill, Charles brings his decades of experience to thoughtful analyses of key national security issues including defunding the police; domestic extremism; international threats; the role of technology in law enforcement and threat mitigation; and other subjects.  Informative and insightful, his articles reach a wide readership and are often cited across the news media.

In both his television appearances and in his written work, Charles has earned a reputation for accurately calling both the likely causes and the outcomes of national security and law enforcement events, based on his broad understanding of the complex forces underlying those events and on his deep knowledge of the national security apparatus and law enforcement policies, practices, and procedures.

Charles also maintains an active schedule as a public speaker where he educates audiences on solutions to global and domestic threats against the United States and how these threats impact their personal and business security.